The present invention relates to coffee brewing apparatus, and more particularly to a brewing basket adapted to hold a coffee filter pack and receive infusing hot water to brew the coffee within the filter pack.
A coffee brewing apparatus typically includes a basket that is designed to retain a coffee filter holding a quantity of ground coffee. Heated water enters the basket and wets the coffee, and the water and flavored solubles removed from the coffee pass through the coffee filter to a drainage port where it exits the basket and collects below in a decanter or satellite dispenser. Some coffee brewing apparatus use baskets that are conical in shape to hold conical filters which are common in the art, while other baskets are rectangular to hold square or rectangular filter packets filled with pre-measured quantity of coffee in a sealed bag. Using pre-measured filter packets has the benefit of avoiding any measuring of coffee and is convenient for those who brew many batches of coffee in a given day, such as restaurants and coffee shops. There is no spilling of coffee granules, no scooping of coffee with measuring spoons, and disposing of the used coffee grounds is cleaner and simpler. For this reason, pre-measured coffee filter packs for dropping into a coffee brewing basket are very popular and their use is only expected to increase in the future.
Coffee filter packets are comprised essentially of a bag of pre-measured coffee made of filter material sealed about its edges. The packet is typically large enough to provide room inside the packet for the coffee to disperse and adequately wet, as opposed to a tight fit where wetting may be hindered. The excess space within the filter pack is occupied with air since the filter material is porous and air can enter and exit the filter packet. The presence of air, however, can pose a problem in that the filter packet will tend to float when the hot water is initially introduced into the basket. If the filter packet floats, the grounds inside the filter packet may not be adequately wetted, especially on the top layer of the filter packet. Further, the bottom layer of grounds may be overly exposed to the hot water causing over-brewing of these grounds and degrading the flavor of the brewed beverage. When the coffee within the filter packet is not adequately wetted, the benefit of uniform coffee flavor from packet to packet is not realized. The present invention is designed to avoid the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a brewing basket that will resist a filter pack from floating when hot water is introduced into the brewing basket and promotes complete wetting of the coffee inside the packet.